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VOL. 11.
PRINTED WEEKtIi
3T BODGE*& M i DONNELL,
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®9 9 ® 99 ® 9Q^ss**"*"**"*
\ FURTHER DETAILS
Respecting the Dartmoor Massacre •
Toth Editor of the
Commercial Advertiser •
l New-York, June 10.
As I cbflceive it will be a gratification
to the citizens of the Ignited State* to
know the particulars of the. distressing
eve lit which took place at Dartmoor pri
son on: the 16th April last, I send yop
a cop:/ of the original report, made by
the committee appointed bf the prison
ers t<» investigate the affair, and beg
Iyou will give it publication as early as
possible. I am, su*, yoar obedient ser
*• -% ’ ’ rv i *
HENRY almost:
We, the undersigned, being each se
▼ej a*y sworn on the holy Evangelists of
Almighty God, for the* investigation of
the circumstances attending the late
hpre and m tssacre, and having heard the
depositions of a great number, of witnes
ses-—from our personal knowledge, and
from the depositions given in aforesaid.
REPORTS AS FOLLOWS :
That, on the 6th April, about six o’-
clock m the evening, when the prison
ers, were all quiet in tneir respective
yards, it being about the usual time of
lurbnig in for the night* and the grea
ter part of life prisoners being then in the
prisons, the alarm bell was rung,, A and
many of the prisoners, ran up to *the
market square tp learn the occasion of
the alarm. There were then drawn up
in the square, several hundred soldiers
with captain Shortlancf ftlie agent] at
their hpad ; it was likewsse observed at
the same time, that additional numbers
of soldiers were posting themselves on
walls round the prison yards. One of
them observed to the prisoners, that
they had better go ihto the prisons for
v they would be charged upon directly
This, of conrse, occasioned considerable
alarm among them- In this moment of
unct: iinty,,they were running in dis
, enquiring the cause* 1
oi the alarm—some towards their res- j
pective prisons, and some towards the !
market-square. When about one hun- j
dred were collected in the square, cap
tain Shortland ordered the ‘ soldiers to- j
Charge upon them, which order the sol- ,
diers reluctantly Obeyiug, as the prison- |
ers were using no violence ; but on the 1
order being repeated’, they made a
charge* and the prisoners returned oht
otibe square into the prison yards, and ,
shut the gates after them* Captain
Shortland, himself, opeired the gates, j
and ordered the soldiers to fire in among j
the prisoners* who were all returning ‘
in different directions towards ,their ;
respective prisons. It • appears that j
there was some hesitation m the minds !
of the officers, whether or not it was pro- _
per to*fire upon the prisoners in that
situation ; cm which Shdrtland seized
a musket out of the hands of a soldier,
which he fired. Immediately after, the
fire became general, and many.ot tiie
prisoners were either killed -or wouiv*
ded—The remainder were endeavoring
to getintothe prisons, when “going to
wards the lower doors, the soldiers on
the walls commenced firing on tnera
from that quarter* which killed some
and wounded others. After much diffi
culty, [all the doors being closed tu the
entrance, but one in each prison} the
survivors succeeded in gaining the pn
of Soldiers came to the doors oi Nos. 3
and 5, prisons, and fired several voilies .
ATHENS , THURSDAY , JULT 13, 1815.
into them through the Windows andi
doors, which killed one man in each I
prison and severely wounded others.
It likewise appears, that *the prece
ding butchery was followed up with a
disposition of pecu iar inveteracy and
barparily.
One man being severely \vounded in
No. 7 prison yard, and being unable to
make his Way to the prison .was come
up with by the soldiers, whom, he im
plored for mercy, but in vain, five of the
haidened wretdhes immediately levelled
their peiCes at him, and shot him dead
on the spot. The soldiers who were
posted on the walls, manifested equa
cruelty, by keeping up x constant fire on
every prisoner they could see in th<
yard endeavoring to get in the prison
when there numbers were very few, ano
when not the least shadow of resistance
could be made or expected. Several of
them had got into No. 6 prison .cook
house, which was pointed out by the
soldiers on the walls, to those who were
matching in from the square—they i m
mediately went up and fired into the
Same, which ‘Wounded several—one of
the prisoners ran out with the intention
of gaining his prison, but was-killed be
fore he reached the door. „
On an impartial consideration of all*
the circumstances of the* case, we are
induced to believe that it was a preme
ditated scheme in the mind of captain
Shortland for reasons which we will noAv
proceed to give—as an elucidation of its
prigin we will recur back to an event
winch happened some days previous.
Captain Shortland was ft the time absent
at Plymouth', but before going he order
ed the contractor or his clerk |o serve
out one pound of indifferent hal’d bread,
instead of one pound and an half of soft
; bread, their usual allowance—this the
prisoners refused to receiVe—they wai
ted all clay in expectation oCtheir usual
allowance being served out, but at sun
set, finding this would not be the case,
burst open the lower gates, and went up
to the store demanding to haVe their
Jbread. * ✓
’ Y * he officers of the garrison, on be*’ ig
alarmed, and informed of these procee
dings. observed that it was no more than
right ihfc prisoners should have their us
ual allowance, and strongly reprobated
tire conduct of captain Shortland in
withholding it from thefn—they were
accordingly served with their bread, and
f Quietly returned to their prison. This
circumstance, with the censures that
were thrown on his conduct, reached
the ears of Shortland on his return
home, and he must then have determin
ed on the diabolical plan of seizing the
first alight pretext to turn m the milita
j ry, to butcher the prisoners for the gra
: tification ol his malice and reyengc. It
u fortunately happened, that in the af
l ternoori of the 6th of April, some boys
■ who were playing ball in No-7 yard,
\ knocked their ball over into the barrack
i and on the sentry in that yard re
i fusing to throw it back to thenpi, they
; picked a hole irt the wall to get in after
kit*’ - • ->v .■ >’ . **
I” ‘ t#
This afforded Shortland his wished for
pretext, and he took his measures accor
dmgly ; he had all the garrison drawn
up in the military walk, additional num
bers posted on the walls, and every thing
* ready prepared, before the alarm bfll
was rung ; this he naturally concluded,
t would draw the attention of a great
I number of prisoners toivards the gates,
! to learn the cause of the alarm, while
i the turnkeys were dispatched, info the
yards, to lock all the doors but one of
each prison# to prevent the prisoners
returning out of the way before he had
sufficiently wreaked his vengeance.
What adds particular weight to the
belief of its being a premeditated, deter
jn ned massacre, are,
first —The sanguinary diposjtion ma
on every occasion by Shortland,
he having, prior to this time, ordered
the sold ers to fire into the prisons
through \he prison wmows, upon unar
med prisoners asleep in their ham
mocks, on account of a light being seen
in toe prisons ; which barbarous act as
was repeated several nights successively*
That murder was not then committed,
was owing to an overruling Providence
alone, tor the balls were picked up in
tfie prisons, where they passed through
the hammocks of men then asleep in
them, tie having also ordered the sol
diers to fire upon the prisoners in the
, yard of No. 7. prison, because they
would not defiver up to him a man who
had escaped from hjs cachot which order
the commanding officer of the soldiers
refused to obey ; and generally* he ha
ying seized on every slight pretext to
injure the prisoners, by stopping then*
marketing for ten diys repeatedly, and
once a third part of their provision for
the same length of time.
Secondly —fie .having been heard to
sa y, when the boys had picked the hole
in the wall* and some time before the
alarm bell rung, while all the prisoners
were quiet as usual in their respective
yards—“ PU Jix th r darn'd rascals direct
ly£
Thirdly^ His having all the soldiers
on their posts, and the grrison fully
prepared before the alarm .bell rung. It
could not then*of course, be rung to as
senffile the soldiers, but to alarm the
prisoners, and create confusion among ,
them v
Fourthly— The soldiers upon the wall,
previous to the alarm Bell being rung,
informed their prisoners that they would
be charged upon directly.
Fifthly. The turnkeys* going into
the } ards, and closing all the doors but
one in each prison, while the attention
of the prisoners was attracted by the a
larm bell. This was done about fifteen
minutes sooner than usual* and without
informing the prisoners it was time to
shut up It was ever the invariable
practice of the turnkeys, from, which
they never deviated before that night*
when coming into the yard to shut up,
to halloo to the prisoneis»so lond as, to
be heard throughout the yards, turn
in, turn ml” whiie on that night it was’
done so secretly, that not one man in
a hundred knew they were shut ; and
in particular their shutting the door of
No- 7 prison, which the prisoners usUall)
go in and ou'. at, (and which was for
inerly always closed rnd leaving
one open in the other end of the prison,
which was exposed to a cross fire from
the soldiers on the wall, and which the
prisoners had to pass in gaining the
prisons. r
It appears to us that the foregoing
reasons sufficiently warrant the conclu
sions we nave drawn therefrom.
We likewise believe, from the depo
sitions oi men who were eye witnesses
of a part or Shortland's conduct on ti.e
evening of the 6th of April, that he
was intoxicated with liquor at the tilde
from his brutality in beating a prisoner
then supporting another severely woun
ded ; from the blackguard and abusive
language he made use of, and from his
having frequently been seen in the same
state. His being drunk’ was of course
the means of inflaming his bitter enmi
ty against the prisoners, and no doubt
was the cause of the indiscriminate
butchery, and of no qua.lers being
shown. j.
We here solemnly aver that there
was no preconcerted plan to attempt
breaking out* There cannot be produ
ced the least shadow of a reason or in
ducement for that intention, the prison
ers daily ex ecung to be released, and
embark on ooad cartels for their native
country. And we likewise solemnly as
sert that there was no intention of resis
ting in any manner, authority of
this despot.
N. B. beven were killed, thirty dan
gerously wounded, and thirty slightly do.
i otai* sixty killed and wounded.
COMMIT! HE—Wm* B. Orne, Wip.
Hobart* James Boggs, James Aderns,
Francis Joseph, Jonn F.
John Rust, Henry Allen, Walter Colton,
ihomasß Moit. v
: Dartmoor Prison , {7th, 1815
Boston, j|lie 19.
OF THE ALGERINES, fee.
-Arrived at this port* on Friday even
ing last, the prize brig Fallas* twenty
nine days irom Cadiz—particular en- *
quiries have been made of the passen
gers relative to the Algerines, and some
of them * state as their belief, that a
small sqUadron of 8 or >0 sail had bee*;
oft Capt bu Vincent the latter end ol
. April, or Ist that they re
passedtbe Gut previous to the 10th May
and they give it as their opinion that
none were out the Streights when they
left Cadiz Capt Page informs that
he Conversed with a Spanish captain
who arrived a fortnight or three weeks
before he sailed, and he informed that
his vessel had ‘been ‘boarded by an Alge
rine frtgate.off Cape St. Vincent and
suffered to proceed. A lew days pre
vious to the sailing of the Pallas, sever
al reports, were in circulation, that a
large Algerine fleet were off St Vin
cent, that they had captured several
American vessels &c. but they could
not be traced to any source, and were
generally, not credited. \
Ihe passengers .also state that about
25 sail of Dutch vessels bound tp Holland
had been detained at Cadiz nearly 2
months and a half, fearing to put to sea,
in cottsequc rice of the numerous reports
of an Algerine squadron being off Cape
St. Vincent V that the Dutch Admiral at
Portsmouth* f Eng.J had written to the
Dutch Consul at Cadiz, requesting him
to have all the Dutch vessels in port
ready for siea, when he appeared off
there, (which he stated would be near
ly if not (juite, as soon as he received
the that he might convoy them
clear of the coast 1 the Dutch squadron
of three ?4’s, four frigates,
Sc several smaller passed in the
night and arrived at Gibraltar about the
11th or 12th of May ; that as soon as
they heard at Cadiz of their arrival, all
the Dutch vessels in port ready for sea
sailed, conceiving the coast to be clear.
Oheof the passengers informs that he
saw a letter from Algiers, to Mr Hack
ley, American Consul at Cadiz, dated
23d April, which stated that the Alge
rine fleet were all in port excepting 4
.or 5 which were out and they did not
go °ut of sight of land, for fear ol being
cut off from the port by the Dutch
squadron, which was hourly expected
on there ; that captain Smith and his
mate, oi Salem, and Mr. Poland of Nor
folk, weie in good heaph, and comforta
bly situated at the house of the Swedish
Consul ; and that the American seamen
tareu very well, (having one dollar per
day allowed each, by our government,
which was paid by the Swedish consulJ
and were not compelled to do any very
laborious work.
Mr. Maya one of the passengers in
the Pallas was informed by Mr. Hackley
our consul, a few days before he sailed,
that lie had endeavored to trace the
numerous reports of an Algvnne fleet
being outside the Straights to some
source, but was unable, and gave it as
his opin.on that those reports were all
without foundation.
MU •
Extract of a letter from the Hon . Benja*
min Barker to Governor Posey r dated
Vtncenncsi March 9, 1815.
H Since the Indians left here, some
of the Miamies, Kidfapods* and Putta
wattamies, have had a council near Fort
Harrison. Their orator announced that
the British had ‘Sent a large wampum
belt to the Indians at the Vermillipni
with an invitation to the several tribes
on the YVabash, to send a chief from
each to Malden. He said that he suppo
sed the object of the English in.solici
ting ; his visit was to inform them that
peace has been, made between the Uni
ted States and Great Britain ; but, de
clared that they were determined faith*
fully perform the engagement the/
had entered into with me at this place*
Little Eyes however informed Broyillet
that Richardville at the instance of the
British had invited Labosime Stone Ea
ter, &c, with theib young warriors, to
repair to Malden without delay ; that
tney were informed by the British,
through Richardville, that peace has not
been made between the United States and
<jreat Britain--- that the poverty of the
Indians was owing to the frauds practised
upon them by the Americans m respect
tu their lands—and that the whole coun
try of the Ohio belongs to them. La*
i ai'bois says that the British are persua*
aihg the Indians that peace has not yet been
made between the United States and G,
untam, i give you the above as F nave
received it, and have no doubt of its
truth *
“ With what paiticuiar view the Bri
tish agents .have circulated these false*
uoods, and invited the Indians, even in
NO. LXXIV.
\ H* ‘ V..
